Indians 2, Astros 1 (7): Rain isn't dampening parade

Cleveland Indians third baseman Mike Aviles throws to first base to get Houston Astros' Brandon Laird on a ground-out in the seventh inning of a baseball game on Friday, Sept. 20, 2013, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

The Indians got an assist from Mother Nature Friday night, beating the Houston Astros, 2-1, in a game that was called after a 1-hour, 9-minute delay in the middle of the seventh inning.
“We’ll take it any way we can,” said Tribe manager Terry Francona. “The umpires talked to the league. There was no break. We were prepared to stay around as long as we had to, but the forecast was not good.”
The Indians, who started Friday a half-game behind the Rangers and Rays in the wild-card race, now hold one of the two American League wild-card spots.
Both of the Indians’ runs were unearned as the 103-loss Astros committed three errors.
“We didn’t do a whole lot offensively,” said Francona. “But we’re going home with a win because we pitched.”
Tribe starter Zach McAllister got the win, even though he only pitched five innings, giving up one run on four hits to even his record at 9-9.
“A win is a win, no matter how they come,” said McAllister.
McAllister retired the first five batters he faced, before giving up a solo home run to Brandon Laird with two outs in the second inning as the Astros took a 1-0 lead.
The Indians countered with a run in the bottom of the second, thanks to Houston’s leaky defense, which came into the game having committed 113 errors, the second most in the American League.
Carlos Santana led off the inning with a single. He went to second when third baseman Laird booted a grounder hit by Asdrubal Cabrera. Michael Brantley singled, loading the bases with one out.
Mike Aviles then hit another grounder to Laird, who was handcuffed again. He dropped the ball, but recovered in time to pick it up and tag out Cabrera for the second out. But Santana scored from third on the play to tie it at 1-1.
Houston’s awful defense made two more errors in the fourth inning, and the Indians cashed in with another unearned run. With one out, Ryan Raburn singled and went to second when Cabrera drew a walk from Astros starter Brett Oberholtzer (4-4).
Brantley hit a grounder to first baseman Chris Carter, who threw the ball into left field while aiming for second base. Left fielder Marc Krauss threw wildly back to the infield for the second error on the play. When the Astros were done making errors and the play was over, Raburn had scored, giving the Indians a 2-1 lead.
Following Laird’s home run in the second inning, McAllister retired eight of the next nine batters. But with one out in the top of the fifth McAllister gave up two singles and a walk to the bottom three hitters in the Houston lineup. McAllister escaped unscathed by getting Jonathan Villar to ground into an inning-ending double play.
“I left a few balls up and fell behind some hitters, and that’s asking for trouble, but the guys played good defense behind me,” said McAllister.
“Zach bent but didn’t break,” said Francona.
When McAllister walked the leadoff hitter in the top of the sixth, Francona went to his bullpen. Marc Rzepczynski relieved McAllister and struck out the only batter he faced. Santana threw out the runner at first, Jose Altuve, trying to steal second, and Bryan Shaw relieved Rzepczynski to strike out Chris Carter to end the inning.
Shaw, who picked up his first save of the season, retired the side in order in the top of the seventh. But before the Indians could hit in the bottom of the seventh, the rains came. The game was called 69 minutes later, as the Indians keep the heat on Texas and Tampa Bay in the race for the two wild-card spots.
“This is an exciting time of the year. To be where we are is awesome. You can’t ask for anything better than this,” said McAllister.Notes
Justin Masterson’s bullpen session Friday went off without a hitch: 33 pitches. No problems. Tribe officials will meet over the weekend to decide the next step. … Saturday at 6:05 p.m., Scott Kazmir (8-9, 4.34) will face Paul Clemens (4-5, 5.54).Box score